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rrroberts
255 Posts |
 Posted - 08/27/2008 : 7:51:16 PM
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Mortgage Fraud: Unraveled by Ralph R. Roberts
Leading real estate and mortgage fraud forensic analyst was the first to report the facts to local and federal authorities
DETROIT, Aug 27, 2008 /PRNewswire via brokeroutpost / -- Ralph R. Roberts, a nationally known real estate and mortgage fraud forensic analyst and the co-author of "Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud: Preserving the American Dream of Homeownership" (Kaplan), is available to talk with the media about the recent mortgage fraud allegations involving Detroit Pistons' basketball player Lindsey Hunter. Roberts -- who is one of the world's foremost experts on spotting and preventing real estate and mortgage fraud -- was the first person to alert local and federal authorities to Bruce McClellan's claims of being defrauded by a scheme that involved Hunter and his company, L&I Enterprises, LLC. "I audit hundreds of real estate files every year, and this file takes the cake," says Roberts, who runs the popular real estate fraud awareness and prevention blog http://www.FlippingFrenzy.com. "If anyone is looking for a trademark signature of mortgage fraud, I think they'll find it here. From fabrication of Bruce McClellan's assets and making outrageous claims about McClellan's guaranteed return on his investment, to making no real attempt to sell the investment property and taking cash back at closing, here we have what appears to be knowingly committed mortgage fraud." As first reported by Crain's Detroit Business (with Roberts' help), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Wayne County (MI) Register of Deeds' mortgage-fraud task force are now investigating the allegations, which involves claims of Lindsey Hunter's company directly involved with the unlawful flipping of houses. During the housing boom, flipping houses was almost a national pastime. Shows like Flip This House, Flipping Out, and Flip That House attracted huge viewing audiences because of the high success rate of the investment strategies involved. Today, however, if you mention house flipping to a law enforcement professional, they are likely to think that you are talking about committing a crime. To them, the word "flip" is a four-letter word. HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) declared it so when it released its FR (Final Rule)-4615 Prohibition of Property Flipping. "What Lindsey Hunter's company is under investigation for having done ruins lives, destroys neighborhoods, and is calculable in our current mortgage meltdown and housing crisis," says Roberts. "People generally do not commit real estate or mortgage fraud for the sheer joy of ripping off the system, although in Lindsey Hunter's case -- with all the benefits he receives by virtue of playing in the NBA -- if he did it -- then that would appear to be the primary motivation."
Ralph R. Roberts, CRS, GRI
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mortgagemessiah
8003 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2008 : 9:18:33 PM
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Ralph, after reading this story on your blog. One, what proof do you have Lindsey Hunter committed mortgage fraud? You publish one man's account of what happened yet you offer no empirical data to back up your claim. Did you do a forensic audit on this transaction? Did you do a full investigation into this case? Did you examine the lender's docs, the title company's docs and the broker's docs? Have your findings been confirmed by the FBI or by another auditing company? It sounds like they may have violated security laws by promising a return on a property investment. If Lindsey Hunter's name or his partner's name is not on the mortgage application as the mortgage broker or LO, they can not be accused of committing mortgage fraud for overstating Bruce McClellan's income. Why was the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office involved when the property was located in Oakland County?
It appears from your blog and your above press release that what these gentlemen did was a "straw" deal not a flip. There's a huge difference. Also, as I posted on your site, your client would have had better results if he would have hired a competent RE attorney. I know several very good ones, including state Senator Gilda Jacobs husband, John. Who was part of the legal team that wrote RESPA.
It should also be noted for all of you not from the Detroit area to know who Ralph is. Ralph is a real estate broker in suburban Detroit who made all his money encouraging consumers to be real estate tycoons by teaching them how to flip houses(and using him as their agent) when the market was booming in Detroit from 1997-2005. He's even wrote a book about how to do it. When the market tanked it was found that these flipping techniques contributed to the collapse of the market. He was a small time version of Tom Vu or all the other guys you see on late night infomercials.
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darkstar
18082 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2008 : 9:28:31 PM
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| I think it's tacky to post a press release you wrote yourself... |
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ppulatie
2257 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 04:07:47 AM
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| Tacky? I would call it egotistical and conceited. Just self promotion. |
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davidfr
1146 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 04:53:08 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by ppulatie
Tacky? I would call it egotistical and conceited. Just self promotion.
It is tacky, but that description doesn't do it justice. It is most certainly all of the above. |
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mganovsky
2049 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 06:05:13 AM
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Steve please correct me if I am wrong but buying and flipping house are legal, Fannie or Freddie do not have a "flip" rule. During the hey day some lenders would not allow a person to make more than 20% if owned less than 90 days; but even that could be over come with receipts of repairs or upgrades made to the house.
As long as the loan was not miss-represented to the lender in any way or the investor did not have an appraiser in his back pocket that would over state the value there is no fraud.
Sounds like this guy is tooting his own horn for his 15 minutes of fame. The media has no mortgage industry knowledge so they go along with anything he says. |
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Scrooge McDuck
8753 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 06:17:58 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by darkstar
I think I'm going to write one saying I discovered the West pole!
i think we both know i discovered the west pole. dont you dare. |
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mortgagemessiah
8003 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 06:18:57 AM
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| Like I said what these guys did was not "flipping" as Ralph contends. It was "straw" deal with McClellan being the "straw" buyer. Ralph also does not show any evidence of mortgage fraud. There are too many holes in this story. |
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fundid
161 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 06:51:37 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by mortgagemessiah
Ralph, after reading this story on your blog. One, what proof do you have Lindsey Hunter committed mortgage fraud? You publish one man's account of what happened yet you offer no empirical data to back up your claim. Did you do a forensic audit on this transaction? Did you do a full investigation into this case? Did you examine the lender's docs, the title company's docs and the broker's docs? Have your findings been confirmed by the FBI or by another auditing company? It sounds like they may have violated security laws by promising a return on a property investment. If Lindsey Hunter's name or his partner's name is not on the mortgage application as the mortgage broker or LO, they can not be accused of committing mortgage fraud for overstating Bruce McClellan's income. Why was the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office involved when the property was located in Oakland County?
It appears from your blog and your above press release that what these gentlemen did was a "straw" deal not a flip. There's a huge difference. Also, as I posted on your site, your client would have had better results if he would have hired a competent RE attorney. I know several very good ones, including state Senator Gilda Jacobs husband, John. Who was part of the legal team that wrote RESPA.
It should also be noted for all of you not from the Detroit area to know who Ralph is. Ralph is a real estate broker in suburban Detroit who made all his money encouraging consumers to be real estate tycoons by teaching them how to flip houses(and using him as their agent) when the market was booming in Detroit from 1997-2005. He's even wrote a book about how to do it. When the market tanked it was found that these flipping techniques contributed to the collapse of the market. He was a small time version of Tom Vu or all the other guys you see on late night infomercials.
I enjoyed this guys book but am starting to wonder about the fact that he hasn't responded to anyone?? |
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MisterVA
6570 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 06:55:36 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Scrooge McDuck
quote:
Originally posted by darkstar
I think I'm going to write one saying I discovered the West pole!
i think we both know i discovered the west pole. dont you dare.
He meant 'east' pole. It was a typo. |
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brandie
3260 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 07:26:13 AM
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I have to agree with Steve, flipping is not illegal, but straw buying is.
The FBI is having problems trying to crack down on these "straw buyers" type loans, because of the banks that ok'ed these types of deal are not going forward to help prositcute (sp).
Straw buying is happening more then people think. Most of the time banks will have investors in their back pockets and will use their info so the low fico score buyer can buy the investment property. The borrower never knows the name of the straw buyer so it hard to say who is the big fish in the pond.
This info came from an FBI agent, that spoke at an investor meeting that I attended.
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mortgagemessiah
8003 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 07:28:26 AM
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| "Straw" deals if done correctly are not illegal. The problem is that 95% of them are not done correctly and contain serious TILA and RESPA violations. |
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ritabradley01
3158 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 07:33:33 AM
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all this fraud gives me a headache. |
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darkstar
18082 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 07:37:50 AM
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>>>He meant 'east' pole. It was a typo.
Yeah, that's the ticket, I meant the EAST pole, yeah.... |
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mganovsky
2049 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 07:51:05 AM
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"Straw" deals if done correctly are not illegal. The problem is that 95% of them are not done correctly and contain serious TILA and RESPA violations.
Steve; so if Mr. Q buys a home as owner occupied or second home for say Mrs Gonzalez as a straw purchase and Mrs Gonzalez makes the payments or pays a lease to Mr Q; you are saying this is legal??
To be legal would not Mr. Q have to buy the house as NOO and then it would be legal and not matter.
I would think that one of the factors used to determine legality would be the occupancy stated on the 1003 and the intended use of the property by the loan applicant. |
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reliable
61 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 07:57:00 AM
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| Anyone familiar with the Detroit area has their own opinion the OP. The real story is in Crain's Detroit Business, McClain was put on Lindey's account at LaSalle |
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velecico
3935 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 10:46:50 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by fundid
quote:
Originally posted by mortgagemessiah
Ralph, after reading this story on your blog. One, what proof do you have Lindsey Hunter committed mortgage fraud? You publish one man's account of what happened yet you offer no empirical data to back up your claim. Did you do a forensic audit on this transaction? Did you do a full investigation into this case? Did you examine the lender's docs, the title company's docs and the broker's docs? Have your findings been confirmed by the FBI or by another auditing company? It sounds like they may have violated security laws by promising a return on a property investment. If Lindsey Hunter's name or his partner's name is not on the mortgage application as the mortgage broker or LO, they can not be accused of committing mortgage fraud for overstating Bruce McClellan's income. Why was the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office involved when the property was located in Oakland County?
It appears from your blog and your above press release that what these gentlemen did was a "straw" deal not a flip. There's a huge difference. Also, as I posted on your site, your client would have had better results if he would have hired a competent RE attorney. I know several very good ones, including state Senator Gilda Jacobs husband, John. Who was part of the legal team that wrote RESPA.
It should also be noted for all of you not from the Detroit area to know who Ralph is. Ralph is a real estate broker in suburban Detroit who made all his money encouraging consumers to be real estate tycoons by teaching them how to flip houses(and using him as their agent) when the market was booming in Detroit from 1997-2005. He's even wrote a book about how to do it. When the market tanked it was found that these flipping techniques contributed to the collapse of the market. He was a small time version of Tom Vu or all the other guys you see on late night infomercials.
I enjoyed this guys book but am starting to wonder about the fact that he hasn't responded to anyone??
Maybe he is too bz making money instead of wasting his time ( myself included ) on this site |
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mgraham224
1008 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 11:42:38 AM
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People!
Please stop posting in this thread!
OP is one of the internet's most consummate experts in the fine art of linkbaiting.
If you don't know what linkbait is, google it. Then everything OP does will make sense. It's all sensationalism for the sake of publicity.
Remember when he blamed the whole meltdown on brokers and stirred up such a big hullabaloo on here? He wants you to argue about this. He wants you to type out his name over and over for better or worse. It's linkbait of the highest order.
I'm told I need to be more diplomatic on public forums so I will leave it at that. So I'll simply nominate him for another BDIU.
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Scrooge McDuck
8753 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 11:51:41 AM
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ok, Matt. No more posting in this thread.
I'm done. |
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Scrooge McDuck
8753 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 11:52:12 AM
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| after this post right here, no more posting. thats it for me in this thread. |
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Scrooge McDuck
8753 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 11:52:43 AM
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| i just want to clarify that the last post i made was definately the last one. no more. |
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Scrooge McDuck
8753 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 11:53:16 AM
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| if this guy thinks hes going to get me in some sort of linkbating thing, hes got another thing coming to him. |
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financeone
1635 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 11:53:18 AM
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| so he's a master baiter? |
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Scrooge McDuck
8753 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 11:53:50 AM
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| im done here. nuf said. |
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mganovsky
2049 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 12:11:43 PM
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Link Bait
Link baiting (or linkbaiting) is the latest buzz word in the SEO world and has come to be the preferred way to natural link building.
It means to create something that naturally attract backlinks for your web page by getting people to talk about it, discussing it on forums, blogging about i, posting it on del.icio.us/Furl/Digg/Shoutwire and linking to it from their sites. It also attracts a lot of visitors.
Here is an excellent article: The Art of Linkbaiting and Linkbaiting for Fun & Profit.
Here is a list of ideas:
Make a valuable resource (lists, special reports, history of, how to, etc.)
Interview (e-mail/phone) prominent people and publish it.
Build a useful tool
Write an interesting article
Run a newsworthy ‘event’ such as a contest
Test something new that has not been done before
Be the first in doing something on the internet
Write something controversial
Be the first to write the latest news in your niche
Be the first to expose a scammer
Disagree with an authority
Write some funny humor
Make an interesting picture
Be the first to research and document something
Make a theme, plugin or piece of software
Make a tool that others can put on their sites but that links to you
Make a joke about a known person
Make a resource that is just in time for a major event
Write an outrageous theory and back it up with logics
Write useful comments on something that is happening
Give something valuable for free
Coin a new acronym in your niche and get people to talk about it
Become an expert in your niche and write valuable information
Useful resources on Link Baiting (many of the tips above taken from here):
Case Study from SEJ, 1,960 links during one month for running a contest
"OK my last post" |
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Scrooge McDuck
8753 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 12:15:01 PM
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| thats a very intresting article Mark, but im not going to speak about that in this post. |
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